MST3K 418 - Attack of the the Eye Creatures

418 - Attack of the the Eye Creatures
Air/Release Date	December 5, 1992
MST3K Director	Joel Hodgson
Movie Director	Larry Buchanan
Year	1965
Cast	John Ashley Cynthia Hull Warren Hammack Chet Davis
Preceded by	417 - Crash of Moons
Followed by	419 - The Rebel Set

“	(Upon seeing the misspelling in the film's title) Attack of the the Eye Creatures? What, did Mel Tillis write these titles?	”
	- Joel

The Movie

Synopsis

Attack of the Eye Creatures

A military briefing film shows a hovering flying saucer resembling a domed yo-yo as the narrator, (Peter Graves), describes how the military's "Project Visitor" has been tracking it and anticipates it will land in the central United States. After the briefing, Lt. Robertson reports to the base near the expected target where he berates his subordinates for their habit of using the monitoring equipment to spy on teenagers making out in the woods. One of the teens sees an object land nearby and tells his friends at a local bar, including Stan Kenyon. Stan and his girlfriend Susan Rogers later accidentally hit one of the multi-eyed, lumpy greyish-white aliens from the ship with his car, so they drive off to call the police. Out in the woods, they are forced to use the phone of a grumpy local codger who resents the "smoochers" who use his property as a lovers' lane, frequently threatening them with a shotgun.

Meanwhile Carl, one of two drunken drifters new in town, comes across the dead creature and decides to put it on exhibition as part of his latest get-rich-quick scheme. When Carl returns to the site after excitedly rushing home to tell his buddy Mike, other aliens arrive, scaring him and causing a deadly heart attack. When the police finally investigate, they assume that Stan ran over Carl and they arrest Stan, refusing to believe his crazy story.Having overheard the bar conversation about the UFO, Lt. Robertson reports to his commander, who reluctantly authorizes a cordon around the saucer. They eventually accidentally blow up the spaceship and congratulate themselves for their effective defense, not realizing that the creatures weren't in their craft and are still roaming the woods.

Easily escaping from the police, Stan and Susan meet up with Carl's friend Mike and the three of them attempt to prove the alien danger to the community. Mike is cornered and attacked by the angry creatures, but Stan and Susan manage to flee and accidentally discover the monsters explode when exposed to bright light. Unfortunately, after the autopsy showed that the victim earlier died from an alcohol-induced heart attack and that Stan had not killed him, the police want nothing more to do with him and refuse to help. The teenagers then gather their friends together and drive out to the clearing where they left Mike. Surrounding the aliens with their cars, the teens use their headlights to evaporate the remaining creatures. Mike survives his attack, and Stan and Susan resume their interrupted plans to elope.

Information

• Part of a series of color remakes of old AIP films by Larry Buchanan intended for television broadcast.
• The title card includes a typo, the double “the”. This error occurred when the movie was re-released.
• Originally titled "The Eye Creatures", the studio decided to rename the film "Attack of the Eye Creatures". However, when the title card was re-done to add "Attack of the" and then re-shot to edit it into the film, it was discovered that the word "the" had been repeated twice, and the title of the film now read "Attack of the The Eye Creatures".
• Apart from the usual stock themes, director Larry Buchanan borrowed from The Hypnotic Eye (1960) an early scene in a bar featuring the same tune 'Yvette Vickers' (aqv) danced to in 1958's Attack of the 50 Foot Woman (1958).
• The same "Eye Creature" costume later turned up in the 1966 AIP release The Ghost in the Invisible Bikini (1966).
• Along with his other low-budget tricks, director Larry Buchanan also borrowed both background scoring and the musical theme from the song "Treat Him Nicely", direct from AIP's Beach Party (1963), peppering them throughout his film.
• A pair of shots depicting a spaceship landing were taken from Invaders from Mars (1953).

The Episode

Host Segments

The Rip Taylor Trio!

Prologue: Crow and Tom experience the "best friends" stage of their development, but quickly grow out of it.

Segment One (Invention Exchange): Tom disses Crow behind his back. The Mads have developed the router Ouija board; now they can contact the spirits of dead woodworkers. Joel and the Bots demonstrate their Funny Gag Fax, a modern variation of the old squirting telephone gag. They demonstrate it on Dr. F.

Segment Two: Inspired by the smoochers in the movie, Tom wants to make out, but he doesn’t know how. Crow, Gypsy, and Magic Voice all turn him down. Finally Joel plants a big ol’ wet one on him!

Funny Gag Fax

Segment Three: Wearing wigs resembling the hairstyle from the girl from the movie, it's Earl Hollimania! Mainly because the kid who plays Stan vaguely resembles Earl Holliman.

Segment Four: The Rip Taylor Trio! The guys gad about like three Rip Taylors, complete with bad toupees, ridiculous moustaches, obvious prop humor, and glittery confetti. They say, "C’mon, laugh! It’s funny!" repeatedly

Segment Five: Joel and the Bots offer proof that filmmaker Larry Buchanan "just didn’t care", and it's rather convincing. Larry Buchanan visits Deep 13 and essentially confirms their suspicions.

Stinger: The greasy drifter in the multicolor striped sweater dress

Other Notes

Guest Stars

• Larry Buchanan: Michael J. Nelson

Trivia

• Goof: Crow’s arm (which was apparently taped to Tom) comes off during the opening.

Callbacks

• “….sing whenever I sing whenever I…” (The Giant Gila Monster)

Obscure References

• "Attack of the THE Eye Creatures? Did Mel Tillis write these titles, or wha-aht?"

Mel Tillis is a famous country music singer who suffers from a heavy stutter while speaking (but not while singing.)

• "Next week, we will demonstrate the Lathe of Heaven!"

The Lathe of Heaven is a science fiction novel by Ursula K. Le Guin about a man with the power to alter reality by dreaming, and was filmed as a made-for-TV movie in 1979.

• "Take off!" "To the Great White North!"

A reference to "Take Off", a novelty song recorded by Bob and Doug McKenzie in the early 1980s, with guest vocals by Geddy Lee of Rush.

• "I borrowed a camcorder from Rob Lowe."

In one of the first celebrity sex tape scandals, actor Rob Lowe taped a sexual encounter he had with a 22 year old woman and a 16 year old girl he met at a nightclub while he was in Atlanta for the 1988 Democratic National Convention.

• "Oh jeez...'Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer' is not as sick as this!"

Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer was a 1986 film loosely inspired by the confessions of Henry Lee Lucas.

• "It's Larry, Darryl, and Darryl!"

A reference to a trio of characters (portrayed as dim rural rubes) from the 1980s sitcom Newhart.

• "The onion field..."

​The Onion Field was a book by Joseph Wambaugh (later a movie), about the kidnapping of two plainclothes LAPD officers by a pair of low-level hoods in 1963.

• "It's a Cowsill!"

The Cowsills were a pop band from the mid-1960s.

• "Travis Bickle had a better room than this."

Travis Bickle was the title character in the 1976 film Taxi Driver. His apartment was small and shabby.

• "Pyle, get in here!"

Reference to Sargeant Carter's common exclamation on the TV series Gomer Pyle, USMC.

• "It's Phil Silvers!"

​Comic actor Phil Silvers is best known for his role as Sgt. Bilko on his self-titled CBS series in the 1950s.

• "Joe Garagiola!"

Joe Garagiola is a former baseball pitcher who became a television host after retiring from the sport.

• "I think we killed the Michelin Man!"

Bibendum, commonly known as the Michelin Man, is the mascot of the Michelin Tire Company.

• "Calgon, take me away!"

A slogan featured in commercials for Calgon bath & beauty products.

• "Dr. Treves, would you like to see my cathedral?"

The Elephant Man Joseph Merrick's doctor and biographer was Sir Frederic Treves, and in the biography, Merrick is depicted building a model of a cathedral.

• "Ignatius P. Reilly had better hygiene than this guy."

​Ignatius J. Reilly (Joel has the name slightly wrong) is the slovenly, neurotic central character in John Kennedy Toole's novel A Confederacy of Dunces .

• "Hello, Roy!" "Hello, Siegfried!"

Siegfried & Roy were a well-know Las Vegas illusionist act.

• "You know, they got a lotta optic nerve!"

Referencing the phrase "You got a lotta nerve!" and the optic nerve, which transmits information from the eye to the brain.

preceded by: Season 3		MST3K Season 4					followed by: Season 5
		1992 - 1993
401	Space Travelers	1992-06-06	409	Indestructible Man	1992-08-15	417	Crash of Moons	1992-11-28
402	The Giant Gila Monster	1992-06-13	410	Hercules Against the Moon Men	1992-08-22	418	Attack of the the Eye Creatures	1992-12-05
403	City Limits	1992-06-20	411	The Magic Sword	1992-08-29	419	The Rebel Set	1992-12-12
404	Teenagers from Outer Space	1992-06-27	412	Hercules and the Captive Women	1992-09-12	420	The Human Duplicators	1992-12-26
405	Being from Another Planet	1992-07-04	413	Manhunt in Space	1992-09-19	421	Monster A-Go Go	1993-01-09
406	Attack of the Giant Leeches	1992-07-18	414	Tormented	1992-09-26	422	The Day the Earth Froze	1993-01-16
407	The Killer Shrews	1992-07-25	415	The Beatniks	1992-11-25	423	Bride of the Monster	1993-01-23
408	Hercules Unchained	1992-08-01	416	Fire Maidens of Outer Space	1992-11-26	424	Manos: The Hands of Fate	1993-01-30